Heineken Just Won The Best Ad of the Year Award | Creative And (More) Authentic Video Marketing For

Wow! Heineken just showed all of us, but especially Pepsi, how marketing is done correctly. This commercial has been popping up all over social media but especially on FaceBook and I also recently saw it on LinkedIn but for whatever reason, I continued to ignore it until last night.

Job well done Heineken. As a creative content producer and also someone that is socially conscious I think this was impressive, powerful, and clearly one of the best videos of 2017 so far. And yes, we aren't even halfway through the year so you might say it's a bit premature to declare this commercial as the best of the year but it really sets the standard when you consider previous winners.

Small business owners and marketers looking for a creative way to help with promoting your services or product please take note because this ad was awesome. Considering all of the turmoil and tension around our country this video did an amazing job with showing us the power of a Heineken beer and how it could bring two complete strangers together to bond and speak about their differences. Now I can certainly call a few flaws but it was on point compared to what Pepsi tried with Kendall Jenner (video is down below) who missed the target by a mile or two because it was completely unrealistic.

I don't want to get into politics here but the Pepsi commercial just wouldn't happen. I mean, is their soda so good that a protester marching against, let's say, Trump's Tax plan or his immigration policy would feel comfortable enough to approach a cop like Jenner does - absolutely not. Even with a beautiful woman like her it's not gonna happen like the commercial made it out.

And I have nothing but love and respect for any individuals willing to rescue, protect, and serve the public, but the commercial wasn't an accurate representation of what many of us see online throughout social media like twitter, youtube and facebook, and even in the news. It's almost as if a certain group of people within our society aren't capable or are unwilling to fully embrace and recognize the changes, challenges, and reality of what is going on around us, and this commercial just seems too good to be true but yet the producers, directors, and most importantly Pepsi, are still trying to sell it as the real deal. By doing this Pepsi just lost credibility with their audience and all of their viewers that know anything about the real world.

Heineken on the hand gets some props for doing a better job. Not saying it was perfect but the few people hating on it should recognize that they are at least trying to help us address a problem that we all know exists. Their marketing was able to capture an authentic event that pretty much transpired right before our eyes or at least that's how they depicted it. For all we know they just called it an experiment but in actuality, it could have all been scripted with paid actors. And yes I could google it and find out but considering how real and natural the ad played out, I pretty much believe it. I think a beverage can help bring two strangers together where they can speak and learn about their differences and why they have a particular viewpoint.

I love this commercial because the people of our society need to have more open conversations like this and Heineken just showed us one way to make it happen, over a nice cold beer.

Again, I can call out the bs like how one guy said, "If somebody said to me that climate change is destroying the world then I'd say that is total piffle", because this statement is just idiotic when the world's leading scientist and experts have already made it clear that climate change is in fact, destroying the world. By simply just carrying on like the way Heineken does in the ad they are telling us that our opinions are more important and meaningful than the actual facts. So yes, Heineken could have done a better job with their questions or addressing opinions vs facts, but at the end of the day they showed us that communication is key.

So now that we briefly touched on Pepsi's failure and Heineken's success let's just point out a few other key ingredients that were used. When it is all said and done both commercials were trying to connect with us, the people of America and this culture and society that is viewed as a 'melting pot' by showing us how we're all the same underneath the few layers of differences. Yes, a beverage can help to unify us, if and only if people are actually willing to talk. Pepsi probably spent at least 4 times as much money as Heineken did for their commercial but as I previously pointed out, it wasn't believable so all that money was basically wasted.

Which brings me to my next point. Some people are so quick to spend all this money on these grand productions with celebrities or instagram models for their marketing and promotional needs but they fail to understand that it is all about the story - the concept, idea, and your ability to execute it. Now to be clear, to my knowledge there isn't anything wrong with Kendall Jenner, she was just the unfortunate chosen one in this particular Pepsi ad whereas the video with "regular everyday people" was more natural, simple, and realistic which allows your average person to relate with it more easily.

That said, the level of production was still clearly professional in both commercials. In this day in age, there are tons of video production companies or producers that offer high-quality FULL HD or 4k video services at affordable rates. So even if you're a marketing specialist working for a mom and pop shop or if you're a small business owner you can still seek out legit video services from a local or regional professional instead of trying to do everything in-house.

And believe me, I get it that you might be on a tight budget, well take note of how Heineken just showed us that you don't need all the money in the world to outperform the huge production that Pepsi had. If you want to see a return on your investment you should prioritize working with creative professionals who have their eyes open to what is really going on in this world and can connect the dots between your product and your targeted audience.

Feel free to contact me if you need help with producing your next marketing video.

So keep all of this in mind as you start to create your next commercial or promotional video because Pepsi just wasted millions and while this is on a larger scale than what most smaller companies are dealing with, the lesson is still the same.

Watch the Pepsi Commercial first...

And the Heineken 'World Aparts' #OpenYourWorld video "experiment" aka commercial here~